The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-09-23
THE PACIFIC ROADS AGAIN.

c. P. Huntington, the Southern Pa
cifc railroad msgDate, was before the
Pacific railway commissioners in New
York on Thursday, and while he did
not instruct the gentlemen much, he
must have entertained them greatly.
He made it very plain to their minds
that he thoroughly understood his bus
mess, and had been quite familiar with
% mseif and with what he was about for
pese many years. One piece of infor-
nation which he impaired, and about
the only bit he gave, explains the secret
of his success as a schemer, and tells
why the commissioners cannot get at
what they want. Being questioned as
to certain books of accounts, he said:
81 carry most of my own business
memoranda under my hat, and
they very seldom fool me-" There
is valuable pointer in this
declaration. There ought to be millions
in it. Memoranda, of a certain kind,
kept under the hat rarely fools or fails
the keeper. We don't believe Mr..
Huntington has a memorandum under
his hat which might not be safely
made public, but commend his way of
keeping accounts, Of certain nature.
But the most important thing donein
the commission yesterday was the
decision that Mr.. Huntington should
outline scheme, which will accompany
his testimony, for the settlement of
the trouble between the Central Pacific
and the government. That scheme will
be awaited anxiously by the people of
the far west; it is to be hoped that Mr..
Huntington will propose a plan which
can and will be accepted by Congress,
when this interminable quarrel may be
brought to an end. 1t is to be
hoped that government will be
reasonable in the business, and not IN
dertake to do impossIbIlities and thus
wreck possibilities. If left to them
selves, if permitted to do things in their
own way the subsidized railroads will,
in time, be able to satisfy all just and
lawful demands OF the government,
and at the same time make their prop
erty valuable to themselves and to the
country through which they run; but if
they are to be crowded and squeezed
continually, to be kept on the defensive
all the time, and forced to defend them
selves against the assaults of dema-
gogue Congressman and an unfriendly
government, the roads will be wrecked,
tne country for two thousand miles will
suffer, and the government will lose all
it has invested. If Congress will take
its clutches off, and be reasonable in
its demands, it will not be long
before the pioneer transcontinental
line will recover its lost glory and
prestige, and bid defiance to all rivals
and competitors. If the road has run
down and lost business and tone it is
because of the more than senseIess raids
upon 1t by unreasonable Congresses.
The plan for an adjustment which
Mr.. Huntington will, in all probability
propose will be an extension of the
bonded debt for a long te: m, and an
amendment of the law which binds the
hands of the subsidized roads as to the
diversion and investment of the com
panies' revenues. If he could include
in the scheme a provision that during
the period of its existence no demagogue
Con- ressman would be permitted to
howl against the roads, or devise plots
for injuring their credit, it would be
well.